A New Life
by Fangirl140
Summary: Kat is just a teenage girl with a rough past and a hard life, but with Tripp, her only friend, by her side, she lets go of her past to create a new life. A sucky summary but a good story. I own only the plot and my OC. Enjoy! R


Author's Note:

Yes, I'm sorry, Burger has left the band in my story, but it was the only way to get my OC _in _the band…Don't hate me! Burger is awesome, but what's done is done. This story is rather depressing, yes, but it's just easier to write depressing stories 'cause you can put more feeling into it. No, I am not suicidal…but what I am trying to show in this story is that there are people who are, and no one seems to do anything to help them out…

Also, my brother is not dead. He is deployed but nowhere near any danger. My sister is safe too, we keep close contact since she's in college now. My mom and dad do NOT fight at all…well, hardly ever, and I spend as much time as I can with them. My best friends are close at hand, none have moved away, well yet…but my other friends are still close by my side too. I just sort wrote the opposite of all the above for my character…

Also…I just love Tripp and to have him as my OC's best friend and only reason for her to not think of hurting herself, was pretty good for me….I hope you enjoy it…r&r!

Kat cried into her pillow as she listened to her parents fighting. Her father's yelling and her mother's screaming was killing her. She hated it when they fought, but this fight was different. There was more hatred and anger behind this one. More gruesome cussing, and more heart-wrenching shouts. She heard something smash as it fell to the floor, making her flinch under her covers. The fighting was getting worse ever since she joined her friend's band. After telling her parents that she had made the spot as new, new lead guitarist in the band Iron Weasel, they never seemed to stop arguing. Every night, they would come home, and she wouldn't even say hello. She knew what was to come, so she would immediately run to her room and wait for the battle to ensue.

Somewhere in the middle of all the fighting, Kat finally found peace as she fell asleep in her bed. The yelling stopped, and the house was once again at bay. Her cell phone started ringing, waking her from her deep slumber. When she looked at the caller ID, she smiled. It was Tripp. He's called every night since the day she told him about her parents. He was her best friend and band partner. She hit the Talk button on her phone before lifting it to her ear.

"Hello?" she said quietly.

"Hey, Kat…is everything alright over there?" Tripp asked.

"Yeah…I guess I fell asleep because I don't remember anything that happened after nine thirty…"

"Well, that's a good thing…you're getting more rest instead of having to listen to your parents fight all night."

"I guess so…"

"Hey, you sure you're okay? If not, I could come by your house and climb up to your room…just like old times, remember?" Kat laughed a little as memories of their first years together came rushing back into her head. She could still see the first time Tripp tried to scale up the side of the house to get to her room. He fell so many times, but since it was storming out, her parents didn't hear him crash into the shed for the millionth time. However, after a few more nights, he got the hang of it and was able to get to her bedroom window in a matter of seconds.

She shook her head, "Nah…it's been too long since you've done that, and I don't want you to hurt yourself. Besides, you might wake up my parents, and trust me, after one of their fights, you do not want them to catch you." She looked over, the clock catching her attention. It was four thirty in the morning. She let out a groan.

"What's wrong?"

"You waited awhile to call, didn't you?"

"No…I've been trying to call, but like you said, you were asleep. I stopped around midnight, and then started calling again when I woke up…" he explained.

"You wake up at four?" A yes came from the other end of the receiver. "Okay…sorry I didn't answer earlier…I promise, next time, I will…"

"It's fine if you don't answer. You need your rest…and I think you need to keep resting. I'm gonna go now so you can get back to sleep. See you at twelve…" Kat didn't even get a chance to respond as the dial tone played in her ear. She put her phone down, a little hurt. That was the first night that they didn't stay up for hours on end talking. She felt a tear roll down her cheek as she thought of the worst. Maybe he didn't want to have anything to do with her anymore. Maybe he no longer cared for her. She shook her head as she tried to force those thoughts out of her mind, but they kept coming back.

Tripp was the only person she had left in her life who was always there for her. She couldn't lose him too. Her brother died while deployed out in the Middle East, her sister was on a ship in the middle of nowhere where cell phones apparently don't work, she no longer talked or communicated with her parents in any way, her best friends upped and moved away, and her other friends abandoned her, leaving her all alone in the scary, cruel world of high school. When Tripp came to the school, a ton of people tried to get him to be their friend, but he didn't go to them; he went to her. He smiled at her and said hello. The first acknowledgement she had in years at that school.

Not long after that, they became friends. Best friends at that. They had the same taste in music, loved the same bands, and played guitar whenever they got the chance. When he told her of the band that he was in, and how they needed a new lead guitarist because he was taking over the bass guitar spot, he asked her to audition. She did and ended up being the new lead guitarist, but that's when things got complicated. That's when her parents found out and started screaming and yelling at each other. She hated every minute of it, but she had Tripp. A friend who had been with her through thick and thin, but now she was afraid of losing him. The very thought broke her heart.

Kat remembered the way she used to handle all the pain that hurt her. In her bed side drawer was a serrated edged knife, and a roll of gauze. She still had scars on her wrists from all those times she would cut herself, but it had been too long since she had done anything like that. It was a terrible time for her when she didn't know Tripp. She got picked on a lot. She got teased and was bullied by a lot of people at her school. The hurt she couldn't handle overflowed to that knife, and at times, it was the only release she had.

It was all her fault her parents were fighting so much. They never so much as argued until she joined that band with Tripp. She didn't understand why her parents were against it so much…actually, her dad was perfectly fine with it; it was her mom though that hated the idea of her child in a band. There was nothing wrong with it though. However, no one could convince her mother. That's why they fought. Her mom would start it saying she doesn't want her daughter ruining her life by playing a guitar as a career. Then, her father would start retaliating saying it's making her happy to play the guitar, and that if it makes her happy, she should at least get the chance to try. Not long after would all the cussing and swearing come in. It was a routine that Kat was used to already.

She reached into her bed side drawer and pulled out the knife. She didn't have an exact reason of why she was about to do what she was about to do, but she wanted to punish herself. It was the only thing that would cause her enough pain and act as a sort of punishment. It was her fault her parents fought, and she needed to pay. Grabbing the gauze as well, she walked into her bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bathtub, a towel placed on the floor at her feet to catch any falling blood. She pressed the edge of the knife against her wrist before pulling back. The pain burned up and down her arm with just that one slit, but it wasn't enough. She moved the knife to a new location on the same wrist before pulling back once again. The blood oozed down the side of her arm and onto the towel below. The tears welled in her eyes. She had to make one more, but instead of on her wrist, she moved the knife to her hand. Pressing the knife to her palm, she closed her hand around the blade. She shut her eyes tight as she sliced the knife through her skin. She grit her teeth, a hiss escaping her lips.

The knife dropped to the floor as it fell from her blood soaked hands. She couldn't look at her left arm anymore. She ran to the sink before washing her limb under the cool water. The liquid turning red fast as the blood mixed with the clear fluid. Pulling her arm out from under the running water, she grabbed a few pieces of toilet paper before folding them and placing them on the slits on her arm. Next, she wrapped her arm in the gauze. She cleaned the knife as soon as her cuts were bandaged and replaced it in the drawer.

Kat knew it was wrong for her to cut herself, but she didn't know what else to do. Looking down at the gauze, she realized that it was soaking in her blood. She looked away, lying down on the comforter of her bed. How she was going to explain her injured arm to Tripp was beyond her. She'd think of something though. She always did before. Either it be she tripped and fell on a sharp rock, or she was climbing a tree in her backyard and slipped, and the tree bark cut her arm. People usually bought it because they didn't care enough to actually listen and pay attention to realize that none of those things could actually cause that much harm to a girl's arm.

No one paid attention though. Not any of them. Some may have noticed, but they showed no signs that they knew what was going on. They didn't do anything to help her or get her to stop. They kept moving forward while she remained left behind. They kept thinking that it's not their responsibility to solve a problem that isn't even about them. They should know though that it is their responsibility. If one of them had just shown her the kindness she needed, she would never have had to resort to a knife to help solve her problems. Tripp was that one person who had helped her. He had given her a reason to stop inflicting pain on herself because she had a friend who truly cared about her. He was all she needed in her life.

Thinking about it now, she felt guilty for even pulling out that knife. Tripp was there for her, and he would never leave her; at least, he wouldn't ignore her and just leave her there to suffer in her pain. She pulled the knife back out off the drawer before opening her window. Looking out, she realized that the sun was coming up, a beautiful sunrise to the girl's eyes. She looked down, the bushes beneath her window pressed up against the wall of the house. She held her hand out, the knife placed firmly in it. Then, she let it go; let go of the past that made up that knife. She had a new life, and even though it was filled with hardships and pain, she had a friend by her side who would be there if she ever falls.


End file.
